Bernie Sanders

swilton

(5,069 posts) Sun Sep 20, 2015, 05:11 PM Sep 2015

NH Update - Conventions and Open Houses and Vermont Neighbors

Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2015, 09:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Big week in southwest NH as we had the 19 September Democratic Party State Convention and also the opening of the Keene, NH Campaign Office today. But as a local Sanders supporter posted on f/b today, “Our Party is not with us in NH. It couldn’t have been more blatant yesterday.”
My first state Democratic Party Convention.
Met Jonathan Tasini who has done a Sanders endorsed biography of Senator Sanders. Jonathan flew to NH from California to sell the book – unfortunately due to shuttle connections at the Verizon Center in Manchester, I wasn’t able to participate in his marketing. But here’s the link to his book. Many places to buy it online; here is one.
http://www.chelseagreen.com/the-essential-bernie-sanders

Yesterday, Ichingcarpenter had a post about the Debbie Wasserman-Schulz debacle at the convention. This clip only expresses (imho) a fraction of the outrage. Before the convention, while my group was standing in line waiting to be processed through security, we were passed orange leaflets to hold up – orange leaflets contained some language to demand more debates. Keep in mind that DWS spoke for 30-40 minutes and she is no Bernie Sanders vis a vis energizing a crowd, or at least this crowd. Sometimes (for example when she’s dissing Republicans), the hot air seems kind of wasted and patronizing. After all, in her anti-Republican rants she’s preaching to the choir. Anyway, time after time when her presentation waned, people began to chant ‘We Want Debates’ to the extent that they drowned her out. She kept talking over the chants – She would sometimes get the crowd to refocus by bringing up something positive like – passing marriage equality legislation. But then her speech would wane again and the chants would start. This happened over and over.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017294877

Hillary’s spoke after the state delegates and sometime after Wasserman-Schulz. Her presentation lasted 30-40 minutes. She seemed tired at the beginning of her presentation and warmed up more as she went along. Criticisms are wasting too much time on family history and lack of specifics. Having said that she did mention her solution to student loan debt was – you guessed it! Refinancing!! After she spoke, many of her supporters left. Have been told, she had had some supporters bused in from Mass. Colleges (nfi). Plenty of Hillary hand-outs. Most annoying were some sausage shaped white balloons with black letters. Balloons would be beaten as applause – when the convention ended they were left as arena debris and presumably contributed to land-fill fodder.
Jean Shaheen spoke and endorsed Clinton.
NH Labor political leader (can’t find his name) presented a speech that could have been written by Sanders. Surprising to me that the speech then gave all the credit for the labor’s success to NH political leaders and never mentioned Sanders. Nor did this speaker introduce Sanders. The NH Labor leader was followed by O’Malley.
Sanders’ presentation was well received. But the fact that he appeared as the third presidential candidate in the line-up (behind Clinton and O’Malley and numerous state politicos), the timing was almost anti-climactic. Numerous muffled chants of ‘Bernie’ throughout the orchestrated agenda’s intermissions only to be stifled when just one more non-Sanders speaker appeared. His actual appearance on stage was about 2 hours (+/-) past the agenda schedule. And numbers-wise, he’s the front runner.
Hard to cover Bernie’s speech content – I’ve heard it numerous times yet still was leaping to my feet with enthusiasm.
Due to bus connections, our group left immediately after Sanders speech, just as Lincoln Chafee was presenting. Many regretted our rudeness in having to leave w/o hearing Chafee and Webb.
Back at Sanders’ Manchester Headquarters about 100 (+/-) waited around to have Sanders give us another pep-talk. There, NH Postal Workers Union (APWU) endorsed Sanders. Amazed at his energy as I was more tired than he was. He walked through and shook hand with the crowd. I was within a few feet of him but still no handshake.

Sunday-20 September
Sanders didn’t make it to the Keene Campaign Office Open House today – he was busy opening up another office around the state and conducting a Town Hall. He has the reputation of maintaining a very energetic schedule – consider that he did the Clobert show Friday p.m., then the NH Convention, and today he’s opening campaign offices (Seabrook and Portsmouth) and conducting a Town Hall in Durham at UNH.
For regional appreciation…Bernie will obviously win Vermont and as they report, it’s about 75%/25%. Sanders now leads Republican primary candidates in Vermont. ...Vermont is such a small state that everyone who wants to feels like they know Bernie and calls him Bernie. Due to Vermont’s late scheduling in the primaries (March 1) and the certainty it will go for Sanders, Vermonters are just choosing to come to NH to campaign – that’s the spirit up here. Among other issues, they successfully campaigned to close down Vermont Yankee and they credit Sanders for supporting that initiative. They also credit Sanders for influencing the expansion of veterans health care facilities in rural Vermont….Sanders has an EXTREMELY popular reputation as Mayor of Burlington.

Thanks for listening!